An Opened Letter to Cllr. Charles Walker Brumskine

Cllr, as we move towards a very pivotal epoch (October 10, 2017) in our country’s existence, I am one of those in the youth and students’ community that elected not to dive into superficial political debates. This is because they are immaterial to the poverty and misery of the mass of Liberians. In these ensuing elections, I have always stressed that the debate in our political theatre should always highlight candidates’ history of service and the ideas they bring to the table. If this is inculcated in our political culture like in other democracies in the region, it will augur well for us as a nation and people.

Cllr, as part of my aspiration as a young man to attain education, intelligence and universal knowledge, I read the May 1, 2017 Edition of the Daily Observer Newspaper. In that edition, I scanned through a caption that stated “My Gov’t Will Pay Vulnerable Liberians”. This headline sparked my curiosity to read in-depth. It did so not only because it met one of my criteria which I think should be at the zenith of the political discourse in Liberia but it also portrays the idea of establishing a welfare state which in my mind will benefit many vulnerable Liberians that are victims of inevitable poverty and deprivation.

When I read your idea, which according to the paper was expressed in Grand Bassa County (my native land), on the occasion marking the introduction to the people of Bassa, Mr. Harrison Karnwea as a vice running mate, a second thought came to mind. Where will the money come from to pay vulnerable Liberians when we have a budget that according to the IMF is more than 85% covered by recurrent expenditure? As I read through, the story quoted you as saying you will reduce taxes to enable your vision and mission of providing monthly money for those you consider poor Liberians.

My encounter with your recipe for a welfare state brought another thought to mind. Tax in all its spheres along with donor funding has been the backbone of our already recurrent expenditure dominated budget. How will the reduction of taxes boost our revenue purse to provide pay checks to poor Liberians who have not been considered in past fiscal regimes? Is tax reduction an injection or a leakage to our revenue generation drive?

The last time I checked, no welfare state has been able to survive by reducing taxes. When welfare was firstly introduced by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the US, during the Great Depression, through his New Deal Policy, he increased income tax for people with higher income. He also increased taxes on the big corporations in the U.S. economy. With that, he mobilized enough capital which enabled him to provide weekly and monthly paychecks for the unemployed and dependent Americans. The Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and etc.), with their Nordic model in Europe are considered some of the most successful welfare states globally. Their welfare programs are dominantly funded through what economic scholars call redistributionist taxation where resources are taken from those who have more and given to those who have less.

Cllr. Brumskine, your idea of reducing taxes to provide welfare programs for our people is not only absurd but also a scheme that is meant to take advantage of our gullible voters who get carried away by political charades. You are like Donald Trump who is cutting taxes on big corporations in the U.S. under the pretense of bringing back jobs to America when in reality he is protecting the corporate interest of the American “corporatocrats”. You are no different from Trump who as a surrogate of American capitalists is fighting to repeal the ObamaCare, a healthcare policy that has provided healthcare insurance for over 10million poor Americans at the expense of taxes paid by rich Americans.

Cllr. Brumskine, we are aware! We are in the know that such idea is not in the interest of the people and one needs not a PhD in Economics to unearth from what Daily Observer quoted from you, that no program of such will be implemented for our people. What you seek is tax flexibility for corporations like Mittal Steel, Firestone Liberia, soon to come Dangote Group of Companies and etc.

See you at the ballot box!!

Democratically yours,
Moses Uneh Yahmia

With his characteristic intelligence and clarity, this skilled Young writer debunks the falsehood and lies of Charles Brumskine who is on record for being an accomplice in the murders of Young working Liberians in the 70s and 80s as he Brumskine nd his fellow murderers walk with impunity under the TWP TYRANNY! Do not be surprise to hear from this killer Charles Brumskine such lies as : "If elected I promise to fly faster than a speeding bullet, leap tall buildings in a single bound and make every single Liberian richer than Bill Gates"!Once again we say thanks to Mr. Yahmia for his thpightful, balanced XRAY on Charles Brumskine who is simply an enemy of the people who conceals his selfish and very cruel interests behind big for nothing promises.

Kandajaba Zoebohn Zoedjallahat 02:51PM, 2017/05/08.

Thanks Moses for outing another parasite of the kleptocracy masquerading as democracy under EJS. However, spewing some silly lies isn't strange for these political animals: They would say anything to get elected, as was witnessed in 2005. But when I see kids as young as four years old scavenging for food from sunset to sundown while Brumskine can simply stroll straight to the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) with a friend, and get him a loan of US $700, 000, I believe these guys aren't only vampires on the land, but crazy to boot.

Granted, it is easy to be carried away by ambition, yet, what does it actually profit a man to gain the whole wide world, and lose his own soul in the bargain? Counselor Brumskine knows he is excessively arrogant, and subconsciously self - absorbed to be a responsive responsible president - like EJS ought to realize about herself by now - why then is he recklessly speeding down a windy road littered with signs marked "Danger"? Does he have to be president in order to help Bassa County, and Liberia considering the millions of US dollars allegedly being raked from foreign concessions in the country courtesy of EJS?

Sylvester moses at 12:52PM, 2017/05/09.

Didn't Tipoteh put a similar system in place in 1980? How did it do?
Ask Charley to come up to the blackboard, draw a chalk line straight down the middle. On the left side, put "Sources of Cash" and on the right side write down "Uses of Cash." For every item listed on either side assign a realistic dollar value. When done, add both sides up and compare their bottom lines.